


Merry Christmas to the Man on the Train

by thatmavin



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-06 01:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatmavin/pseuds/thatmavin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe fate really did work in funny ways, and Michael was supposed to meet this man on the train. Maybe somewhere in the stars it was written that this man would come into Michael’s life and never leave. Maybe this was how things were supposed to be. Rather or not those things are true, this is how it all began, one Christmas Eve some time ago.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Doors closing.” The automated voice rang over the speaker. The doors began to hiss closed as a man stuck his arm through the doors. 

“Ow, wait!” He yelled. The doors opened, letting him in. He glanced around the train before his eyes fell on me. The man was tall and slender. He was dressed nice, which means he either had an important job, or somewhere important to be. When we caught eyes, I turned my head away. “Excuse me.” He shimmied through the crowd people then took the empty seat next to me. He sat with a huff, the brown paper bag in his hands crinkled noisily. “Happy Christmas Eve, mate.” He tapped my arm. 

“Eh.” I shrugged, my breath fogging the train window. 

“What’s the matter, you don’t like Christmas?” He inquired, his accent made him sound like someone from one of those old cheesy holiday movies. 

“It’s really not any of your business.” 

“Are you alright?” He sounded way too concerned for someone who doesn’t even know me. I debated telling him that I had no one waiting for me at home. That I couldn’t afford to fly out and see my family. Or, that my parents booked a flight out to vacation instead of see their kids. 

“Again…none of your business.” 

“Well, maybe-” 

“Stop talking to me.” I stared out of the window of the train, watching as we passed illuminated buildings wrapped in twinkling lights. 

“I won’t.” He laughed. 

“What the hell is your deal?” I refused to make eye contact.

“It’s Christmas and you’re unhappy.” 

“I’m most likely not the only one. There are probably other unhappy people on this train, go Dr. Phil someone else.” 

“Look at me, would you? I bet I can make you smile.” He tapped my arm again.

“Can’t I sue you for harassment or something?” I finally looked at him. His tuffs of blonde hair were in every direction, some of it falls messily over his green eyes. 

“I’m sure you won’t sue me after I tell you this story.” He grinned.

“Whatever.” I shrugged, but I waited to hear his story. 

“Well, I live with my boss, who’s also a good friend of mine, his wife, and their kid.” He started. “My mate was getting his wife something sexy for Christmas, but he was drunk when he was wrapping gifts.”

“Ok.” I nodded. 

“So he accidentally labeled the naughty gift for his kid. Thing is, he got his kid a million gifts.” He began laughing. “He went to give his wife an early Christmas gift, but it was a bloody doll or something. So he and his wife are frantically ripping open all of the wrapped gifts trying to find the…personal massager. It was mental.” He waited for my reaction. I stifled a laugh. 

“That’s fucking stupid.”

“But, you did laugh. You’re smiling now.” He pointed at my face. I felt a blush shadow over my grin. 

“So what?” I forced a frown.

“So, that’s kinda what the holidays are about. Smiling and stuff.” He explained as the doors to the train chimed again. I glanced at the stop number. 

“Damn it! I missed my stop.” I glared at the man in front of me because I’d been too busy talking to him to actually pay attention. He wore a guilty pout.

“I’m sorry…” He sighed. “I just want to…I didn’t mean for…” He stammered. I felt bad. He was only trying to make me smile, and it was the first smile I had all day. I took a deep breath. 

“It’s fine.” I assured him. Suddenly, his face brightened up. 

“Hey! Are you doing anything tonight?” He bit his lip in anticipation.

“I mean…no, but-”

“Good, come with me.” He rose to his feet. 

“What are you doing? I just can’t go with you! What if you’re a murderer or something?” My jaw hung open in disbelief.

“Doors opening.” The train hummed to a stop before the doors opened. The man extended a hand to me.

“Would you just come on?” He rose an eyebrow.

“But-”

“Hurry before the train gets moving again.” He shrugged. 

“No way.” I shook my head and turned away. 

“I don’t want to have to make a scene. But if I must, so be it.” 

“What do you mean?” I watched as he stood in the doorway of the train. 

“Are you serious?” I sighed. 

“Please clear all doorways as the doors will be closing.” The train chimed then the doors hissed attempting to close, but sensing the man’s body, they retracted immediately. “Please clear the doorways.” The train demanded. The man stood, staring at me. He ran his fingers through his hair, sweeping it from his eyes. “Please clear the doorways.” The train said again, at this point, other people began to urge he and I off the train. 

“Get off the train, you moron!” Someone yelled, accompanied by a chorus of ‘yeahs’. A middle aged gentleman got up from his seat and pushed the man in the doorways off the train. The paper bag that was in his hand fell and stayed on the floor as the doors immediately closed behind him.

“Wait!” I ran to the doors, picking up his bag. He banged on the doors, his voice muffled. “Open the god damned doors!” I yelled. The train began to stir as it reeled forward into motion. “No, no, no! Fuck!” I watched as the man kept up with the train, running to keep eye contact with me. His voice was muffled, but I could make out the words ‘check the bag’. He stopped running and soon disappeared as the train moved on. Defeated I slumped against the wall, my body swaying with train’s motions. I opened the paper bag. There was an envelope that was addressed to ‘Geoffrey Ramsey’ that had an address on it. The address wasn’t too far from here. Did that guy want me to come to his house or mail it to him? Is he Geoffrey? Under the envelope was a box wrapped in shiny blue paper and a white ribbon. The tag on the gift was also to Geoffrey Ramsey. Christmas was tomorrow, so I had to get it back to him before then. 

Fifteen minutes later, at the next stop, I hopped off the train. I followed the addresses until I arrived at the one printed on the card. A few blocks later, I stood outside the house. The house had many cars parked in the driveway and by the curb. The roar of voices and laughter came from inside. 

“Great, a fucking party.” I sighed as I approached the door. I knocked and waited for a response. “Can they even hear me?” I wondered aloud. I was about to knock again when the door creaked open on its own. “I could be arrested for breaking and entering, right?” I stepped inside the home. It was warm, and smelt of good food. The first thing I saw upon entering was a large Christmas tree with gifts flooding at the base of it. I could place the bag under there, I’m sure. I really want to find the guy from the train though. People sat amongst the couch in the living room and I could see bodies vibrating around the kitchen, none of them were the British guy. I contemplated just dropping the bag off at the small table in the foyer where I stood, but I felt rude for doing that. I glanced around and nervously shuffled through the home towards the kitchen. 

“Hello.” I announced myself, three woman turned to look at me. They studied me cautiously, probably trying to guess who I was. I cleared my throat. “Uh, I have-”

“Oh! You must be one of Gavin’s friends!” A woman with tattoos along his arms pulled me to her for a hug. She spoke to me in a motherly tone, maybe she’s the wife of the man who owns the house. Was Gavin his name?

“Uh, yeah sure. I just have-”

“He’s in the dining room.” She points to an archway, leading to a table that was surrounded by men with beers in their hands. Even though the atmosphere of this place was super inviting, I just wanted to drop off this bag and get out. I took a deep breath before entering the room. As I stepped in I cleared my throat, and all heads turned towards me. 

“Ok, let me just get this out before anyone interrupts me.” I announced. The men exchanged glances. “I met this dude on a train, alright. I don’t know where he is. I don’t even know if he’s here. Maybe this isn’t what he meant when he said check the bag. But anyway, he left this shit on the train. I want to give it back to him. Have any of you seen said British dude?” Everyone stared at me. One of the men pointed behind me. I turned to see the man from the train. “Oh thank god!” I thrust the bag to him. “Here, take your shit.” He laughed as he took it form me. 

“Thank you.” He gave an apologetic frown. “I’m sorry to make you go through all of this bloody trouble.” He looked down. 

“No, no, no. Don’t do the whole pouty sad thing again. I can’t take it.” I sighed. The men at the table all had their eyes on us. I turned to them and gave a wave. “My name is Michael.” I greeted them then turned back to the man from the train. “And your name is…Geoffrey…?” I asked. He laughed. 

“No, no. I’m Gavin. Gavin Free.” He shook my hand. “Nice to re-meet you.” He walked over to a man who’s arms were coated in amazing tattoos like the woman in the kitchen. “This is Geoff, Jack, Ryan and Ray.” He pointed around the table, the men greeted me. 

“Nice to meet all of you. Sorry for crashing your party.” I laughed nervously. “I’ll be heading out now.” I nodded to Gavin. Geoff nudged his arm. Gavin glanced from him to me. The Brit grinned at me pleadingly.

“Please stay, it’s Christmas. Unless you have somewhere else to be?” He rose an eyebrow. The men looked at me, waiting for an answer as well. I groaned dramatically, not wanting to sound eager and lonely. 

“Whatever, I’ll stay. Merry Christmas to me.”


	2. Merry Christmas, Gavin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They met by chance, but will they ever meet again?

Gavin followed close behind me, everywhere I went, introducing me people who he worked with, like Gus Sorola and Burnie Burns. It didn’t seem important to tell me who was who, since I’d probably never seen any of them again. It seemed like he was afraid that some of the people would mistake me for someone I wasn’t…or something. He was kind of cute when he stuttered like an idiot as he tried to explain how we met on the train and I was only here to do him a favor, but he’d invited me to stay. The man named Burnie glanced at Gavin and I as we stood before him. He chuckled then looked down shaking his head. I looked at Gavin who was bright red. 

“It’s not bloody like that! Piss off, Burnie! You’re rubbish!” He sputtered, only causing the man with glasses to laugh. 

“Not like what?” I asked.

“Yeah, Gav. Not like what?” Burnie repeated before bursting into laughter seeing the younger man so flustered. 

“Come on Michael.” Gavin grumbled and pulled my arm, almost causing me to spill my beer. 

“Gavin, what’s wrong?” I frowned, this time, it was my turn to be worried. He took me to the stairwell, which was tucked into an alcove where no one could bother us. As we sat amongst the wooden stairs, we were close enough that our legs pressed against each others. 

“Nothing is wrong.” He smiled at me. “You donut.” He looked away. 

“Well then why were you so worked up with that Burnie guy?” I took a sip of my beer. 

“It’s just…I recently came out to my co-workers, friends and family, not that long ago. They’ve been teasing me, asking me why I was out a lot more often, saying that I had seeing someone.” He laughed. “Then when you bloody came in, some of them were like, ‘oh…he’s the guy!’, so ya know. I just had to clear it up, I didn’t want people looking at you funny all evening.” He explained, I thought about it for a while before I responded. 

“When I was in high school, I met this guy. He was kind of a bully, but I’m not the nicest guy in the world, so we were fond of each other. We used to be assholes together, not gonna lie, it was pretty fun.” I paused, remembering all of our shenanigans. “But, one day he took it too far. He beat the fucking shit out of this one kid. The kid was so beat up that he had to go to the hospital for a month.”

“Oh, man.” Gavin’s brow furrowed. 

“I was so upset with him.” I sighed. “Anyway, he got expelled and I didn’t see him again until I was 22. I asked him how things had been, and he told me that he was great. He brought up the story about the kid he beat up. Everyday that kid was in the hospital, he was there with him. They’d ended up dating for two years before he went away to the Navy.”

“Aw.” Gavin smiled.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “But then, he told me that it was because of me that he had the strength to be who he was. I didn’t get it, but then he kissed me. It was the first time that I ever kissed a guy. It felt amazing…” I got lost in thought again. I felt Gavin bump his leg against mine. 

“Are you gay, Michael?” Gavin asked me. My stomach twisted, I picked up my beer to have a sip. I shrugged.

“I haven’t ever dated a guy before. I’ve never actually fallen in love with a guy. When I think about the future, I can’t see myself with a woman really, or a man. I think it’s because I don’t really know what I want from my life anyway.” I was honest with Gavin because I felt like he would understand.

“You’ll figure things out.” He leaned back against the wall. 

“Thanks.” I leaned back against my half of the wall and closed my eyes.

“You’re a good guy, I can tell. I normally would’ve been really intimidated by a guy like you.”

“A guy like me?” I opened my eyes.

“A scary ‘fuck you’, kinda guy.” Gavin shrugged. 

“Gotcha.” I sat up. “So why weren’t you afraid of me?”

“Eh, the Christmas spirit.” Gavin and I laughed together. 

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard!” I held my side. 

“No! But, Michael!” He exclaimed. “I’m serious!” 

“I’m crying! I have tears in my eyes!” 

“I came in talking about Christmas, didn’t I?” He demanded my answer by putting his hands on my shoulders. I stopped mid laugh and looked into his eyes, flames of seriousness danced in the centers of the green pools. 

“I mean…yeah.” I swallowed.

“And you basically said ‘fuck you shut up’, right?” 

“Yeah.”

“Well, I assumed you just weren’t a Christmas kinda guy, so I decided I wasn’t going to let you bother me. If it wasn’t the holidays, and someone shut me down like that, I wouldn’t just be fine about it, ya know?” I thought about it.

“I understand.” I nodded, and glanced down at his hands on my shoulders. When I brought my eyes back up to him, he was already looking at me. Neither of us said anything. The hum of people talking, along with the holiday music in the back made the silence between us not so quiet. 

“Michael…can I kiss you?” He bit his bottom lip.

“Shut the hell up, Gavin.” I pulled him by his slender waist to me. Our bodies collided gently as he took my face in his hands. I didn’t close my eyes at first. I watched as his face came closer and closer to mine. When our lips met, my eyes closed and my hands clutched his collar. A small moan escaped from Gavin, his hands left my face and his arms wrapped around me. Something clicked inside my head. A feeling I never felt before. Something inside me felt right. I didn’t feel lonely anymore, I felt like I was breathing in Gavin, and all of them empty places inside were filled. Gavin separated our lips, only to bring them together again.

I was startled by a knock on the wall of the stairs. I pulled away from Gavin, thinking someone had seen us. Another series of knocks as I saw my beer bottle tumbling down the stairs. 

“Oh, sorry. I kicked it…” Gavin looked at me. 

“It’s alright.” I groaned as I lifted myself from the stairs, careful not to step in the spilled liquid and fall. Gavin followed behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. “Hey, be careful not to slip in the b-” I was cut off by Gavin’s body crashing into mine. We both screamed all the way down the staircase, landing in a heap on the floor. Everyone came running to see what was happening. 

“Are y’all alright?” Jack broke the silence. From on top of me, I felt Gavin’s body rocking as he stifled laughter. 

“What the hell happened?” Geoff started laughing, his laughter loud and contagious, everyone else laughed too. I couldn’t help but join in. 

After the mess was cleaned up and people began leaving, soon it was only Gavin and I, Griffon and Geoff. Geoff was far too drunk to be social, though that didn’t stop him from singing along loudly with the Christmas music. Griffon was in the kitchen, wrapping up leftovers from the meal. Meanwhile, Gavin and I were playing Minecraft on the Xbox. 

“You and Geoff built all this shit?” I asked while Gavin toured me around Achievement City, and all of the surrounding landmarks. 

“Took a bloody long time too, since there wasn’t creative mode yet for some of these things. Even with creative mode, it still takes a ridiculous amount of time.” Gavin laughed, probably remembering all of the hours he’d spent on the game. While I explored around the game, I kept catching eyes with Gavin.

“What do you do, Michael?” He asked me as he draped his legs over my lap, his eyes glued to the screen. I rested my arms on his slender legs. 

“Nothing really.” I shrugged. “I work at a dumb 9-5 job, make shit money, and go home.” 

“Oh.” He looked at me. “You should come work with me and Geoff.” He smiled.

“What do you guys do?” 

“Play videos games.” 

“Right, and I’m the president. I forgot to mention that.” I shook my head. 

“No, I’m serious.” He laughed, removing his legs from my lap, then scooted himself closer to me. “We-”

“Gavin?” Griffon came into the room.

“Yeah?” He responded.

“It’s time to drive Michael home, if he wants a ride. Geoff’s passed out, too drunk to drive. I want to go to bed soon, so if he wants a ride, I’ll have to take him now.” Griffon explained. I stood up from the couch. 

“No, no. It’s alright. I was going to go catch the train again.” I reached for my jacket. 

“Michael, let us give you a ride. It’s late.” Gavin insisted. I glanced form him to Griffon. I let out a large sigh.

“Alright.” I shrugged. 

“Good.” Griffon pulled on her coat and we all went to the garage. 

“I don’t have my license in America.” Gavin stated. 

“Or anywhere else.” Griffon laughed. 

“Hey!” Gavin frowned. 

“You can’t fucking drive?” I laughed too. He began pouting. 

“Kids in the back.” Griffon teased, though Gavin did get into the back seat. I followed suit, not wanting to sit next to Griffon and make awkward small talk. “Where do you live, Michael?” She asked, I told her and we were off. 

In the back with Gavin, he laid his head on my shoulder. I blushed hard, knowing Griffon could probably see us in the rearview mirror. His hand crept up and laced itself with mine. I didn’t move. 

“Michael.” He whispered. I turned my head slowly. There wasn’t much light to show his face. But, with every streetlight we passed, for each one I saw his face flicker into view before me before it disappeared into the dark. Every time I saw his face, his eyes were locked with mine. Even when I couldn’t see them, I could feel them looking at me. He unhooked his hand from mine and brought it to my face. I bit my lip nervously as he leaned as far as he could. The space between us almost closed completely, but his seat belt restrained him from coming any further. It was up to me to move. Half up me wanted to turn away, embarrassed to possibly be seen by Griffon. The other half of me didn’t want to hesitate at all, that part won. I leaned into him, gently pressing my lips against his. His hand moved from my face to my neck, pulling me closer to him. His lips were gentle, but begging for closeness. We traded sweet kisses in the dark. I couldn’t get enough of him. Something drew me to him, so much that it hurt to separate our kisses for more than a moment for air and to lock eyes with him again. 

Before I wanted it to, the ride ended. Neither of us noticed until Griffon loudly cleared her throat. We quickly separated ourselves.

“Is this the place?” She asked. 

“Yeah, thanks so much. Have a good Christmas.” I unbuckled my seatbelt quickly.

“You too.” She smiled at me. “Gavin, walk him to his apartment, would you? I’ll be here waiting.” 

“Ok.” He responded, following me to my building. We walked in silence, side by side. Once we were at my door we stood staring at each other. He broke eye contact and stared at his feet. “Well, thanks for everything today. I’m really glad I met you.” 

“I’m glad too, thanks for making Christmas Eve mean something again.” I laughed nervously as I unlocked my door.

“Well it’s bloody Christmas time, it should mean-” I pulled him inside my apartment. “Hey!” He laughed, wrapping his arms around me. I closed the door behind us, kissing him hungrily. He moaned as I pressed his back against the closed door. “Michael.” He murmured against the kiss. I silenced him by biting his bottom lip gently and picking him up. His legs wrapped around my waist. I held him up, grabbing onto his ass to support him. His legs tightened around me, he moaned again. “I want you.” He spoke again pulled back to look in my eyes. I rose an eyebrow.

“Now…”

“No…no, no, no.” He got down, planting his feet firmly on the ground. 

“When?” 

“I don’t know. We should go out…on a date.” He blushed, butterflies swarmed in my stomach. 

“Ok, that sounds great.”

“You rhymed.” He poked my side. 

“I didn’t mean to.” I rolled my eyes. 

“If you’re not doing anything, come over for Christmas tomorrow. You obviously don’t have to bring us any gifts.” 

“Ok, sounds good. But that’s not a date, I want to do something with you. Just me and you. Like a movie…or something I don’t know.” I shrugged. 

“Ice skating!” He jumped up and down. I rolled my eyes again. 

“That’s cheesy.” 

“It’ll be fun.” He took my hands in his and swung them side to side. 

“Give me your number, I’ll call you some time.” I offered. 

“No.” He frowned. 

“What?” I asked, he stopped swinging our arms. 

“I said no.” He repeated. 

“I understand that but why not? How am I supposed to contact you?” 

“I’ve had so many guys ‘take my number’, and then they bloody forget all about you. It’s the whole ‘out of sight, out of mind’ thing, ya know?” 

“Um…sure.” 

“So, if you’re serious about trying this thing, just come see me.” He let go of my hands and rummaged in my kitchen until he found a pen and paper, wrote his address and work schedule down so I knew when he’d most likely be home and stuck it to my fridge with a magnet. He returned to me and grinned. “And, there we go.” 

“I hate you already.” I wrapped my arms around him, he hugged back.

“See you tomorrow?” He asked, I nodded.I pulled back a bit to kiss him. He kissed back and ruffled my hair. 

“Merry Christmas, Gavin.”

“Merry Christmas, Michael.”


End file.
